Ammonia-absorber.



C. W. VOGT.

AMMONIA ABSQRBER.

APPUCATION mm mm 1. 1914.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

2 SH EETS-SHEET I.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

2 SHETS-SHEET 2' E. w. vom;

AMMONIA ABSORBER.

APF'LICAHON FILED JUHE i. 1914- is! a, $1

. st w mm-Imam w Lb all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, CLARENCE W'. Voc'r a citizen of the United States,residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and Steteof Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAJnmonie Absorbers,of which the following is a. specificadion: V

The present invention has reference to certain improvements in ammoniaabsorbers, that is machines Whose function and. object is to bring Waterinto contact or association with emmonizflso that the water willebsorbthe ammonia gas to produce the con" centrcted liquor.

While it is true that ammonia gas has a very strong uflinity for water,so that a. given volume of water is capable of absorbing it 'very largeVolume of the gas, still it is do simble to so construct the ammoniaabsorber that the \vater and. gas will be intimately brought ,ogetlier,thereby improving the ab sorption and permitting r larger quantity ofthe concentrated liquor to be produced in a givenv time in a machine ofgiven size. in other words, it is lesireble'to so construct the machinethat the Water, or Weak liquor. and the gas will be intimatelyassociated so as to increase the rate of absorption in u. machine ofgivensize. A

The main object of the invention is to ac complish the foregoingdesirable results by so constructing the machine that the water or weal;liquor and the gas will be brought into contact with each other byecountercurrent flow that is a, flow inwhich thc liquor is traveling inone direction, While the gus is traveling in the opposite direction, thegas and liquor being in contact with each other.

In this connection another object is to so construct the muchinethst atperiodic inter vols during the counter-current low the liquor will bejetted or sprayed into the body of thegas, so as to still further insurethe intimate contact of the liquor and gas.

Other objects oi the invention have reference to the simplification ofthe construction ofthe machine, and in general the provision of aconstruction such that the parts may be readily manufactured, ne wi l bestrong and permanent inservice.

Other object-s and. uses of the invention will appear from. a cletaileridescription of 55 "the some which consists inithe features ofSpecification of. Letters. Patent.

Part-ent ee slug 3 193.56.

191%. beriel Ho. 342,285.

construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described. andclaimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a construction ofammonia "absorber which embodies the features of my invention; Fig. 2shows an enlarged sectionel detail through certain of the pipes of theabsorber and. through the corresponding headers, the central portions ofthe pi oes being broken away so as to shorten upjthe' figure; Fig. 3shows c section taken on the line of Fig. 2 looking in the direction ofthe arrows; and Fig. l sbcwse section taken on the line of Fig. 2looking in the ciirection of he arrows.

The absorber illustrated in the (lrowings comprises essentially :1plurality of horizontally; or substantially horizontally, mounted pipes5, and the some are conveniently, illustreted. as being supported by theupright stands or brackets 6. These pipescre ocunectecl up in serieswith each other by headers 'l', the headers beiog so connecterl intopipes that. the gee and liquor will have to flow through the entireseries from oneen to the other; The incoming gas enters the lowermostpipe and circulates book Mill forth While traveling upward, while the-weter or week liquor enters the uppermostpipe and circulates back antiforth while traveling downward in opposition to the travel of the gas.As the gas travels upward it is absorbed by the Wet r or liquor so thatat the upper end; of the absorber there is practically no free orunabsorbed gas l ft.

- The water orweek liquor may be intro clucerl into the upper curl ofthe absorber in any convenient manner, and likewise the fresh gas may beintroduced into the lower end of the absorber in any convenient man ner.As convenient arrangement Ihsve, shown the water orweak liquor us comingfrom the supply pipe 8, passing thence through a regulator 9 end upwardthrough;

a pipe 10 to e weak liquor inlet header 13.; From this header it passesinto the uppermost pipe by a connection 12 under the con trol of a.globe valve 13. I have conveniently illustrated the ammonia gas as beingsupplied from a return gas header 14, passing downwarrl through aconnection 15 and. into the lower end of the absorber under the controlof anothec globe valve 16. l have also conveniently illustrated the richliquor es beingdeliverecl from the lower end-of the sum-i absorberthrough a connection 1 7 and into the rich liquor header 18. If desired,the absorber may be cooled by. a spray or jet of water which is allowedto trickle down over the outside surfaces of the pipes 5, said waterbeing supplied by a pipe 19 to a distributing lips 20 which has aplurality of perforations along its under side.

' The foregoing described construction is such that a counter-currentflow of the gas and liquor will be produced. I shall now proceed todescribe a header construction such that a very perfect mingling orcontacting. of the liquor and gas will be pro duced at frequentintervals during the travel of these constituents in theircountercurrent relationship. As the water or liquor travels along eachof thepipes it lies by gravity on the lower surface thereof,

and in like manner the tree or unabsorbed ammonia gas rises and occuplesthe upper portion oi each of the pipes. It is desired to counteract thistendency periodically so as to force the gas and liquor to mix with eachother. For this purpose each of the headers is provided with a weir 21which controls or regulates the depth of the liquor as it lies in thepipe and with another weir which receives the liquor as it overflows theweir 21 and directs it down into a pocket the like 23 of the header.From this pocket the liquor can gain access to the next succeeding pipeonly by way of one or more tubes 24 which extend longitudinally into thesucceeding pipe, and if desired, these tubes 2i may be provided withperforations 25 in their lower surfaces so as to spray the liquor as itenters the pipe. The upllowing gas, by reason of the fact that itoccupies the upper portion of the pipe into which the tubes 24; project,will surround said tubes and be brought into intimate contact with thedescending liquor as the same is sprayed from the tubes 25L Whatever gasis left over and unabsorbed will pass up into the next pipe 5 of theseries by way of a passage 26 in the header, so that the action will berepeated in said pipe. It thus follows that as the liquor and gas passthrough each of the headers in counter-current How an intimate mixing orassociation will. occur so that a very greatly increased absorption canbe secured in a machine of given size,

As a convenient detail of construction each end of each of the pipes 5is provided with a collar or the like 557 having a tongue 28, whichtongue is adapted to seatinto a slot or groove of the correspondingheader, the header being drawn solidly toward the collar by means ofbolts :29.

In view of the fact that the pipes of the absorber disclosed in thepresent applicaare only partially filled with liquor, the

liruor overliowin T from each ioeinto the one immediately below it, itfollows that only partially filled, the liquor overflowing from eachpipe into the one next beneath it, any disadvantages or objections to alarge --.static head are overcome or done away.

While I have herein shown and described 0111 a single form ofconstruction which em odies the features of my invention, still it willbe understood that I do not limit myself to this single construction,except as I may do so in the claims, but that I include within the scopeof my invention any equivalent construction operating in an equivalentmanner to produce equivalent results;

I claim:

1. In a gas absorbing apparatus the combination of a plurality ofhorizontally disposed absorption pipes, heads connecting the ends ofsaid pipes alternately together for the purpose of placing the pipes inseries with each other, each head connecting pipe end portions which arein vertical alinement each head being provided with a vertical pocketextending from the lower portion of the upper pipe to the upper portionof the lower pipe and adapted to receive absorbing liquid flowing alongthe lower surface of the upper pipe, and a discharge tube connected tothe lower portion of each pocket and adapted to discharge the absorbingliquid into the upper portion of the lower pipe, each head beingprovided with another passage for gas connecting the lower portion ofthe lower pipe with the upper portion of the upper pipe.

2. in, a gas absorbing apparatus the combination with a plurality ofhorizontally disposed absorption pipes lying in vertical alinement, ofheads connecting the end portions of alternate pairs of pipes to placethe pipes in series with each other, each head being provided with avertical pocket for absorbing liquid extending from the lower portion ofthe upper pipe to the upper portion of the lower pipe, the portion ofthe pocket adjacent to the upper pipe being provided with a weir forlimiting the depth of absorbing liquid in the upper pipe, and adischarge tube connected to the lower por upper portion of the upperpipe.

other, each head having a vertical pocket extending from the lowerportion of the upper pipe' to the upper portion of the lower pipe, therebeing a weir between each pocket and the end portion of thecorresponding upper pipe,-for the purpose of limiting the depth ofabsorbing liquid in the upper pipe,

and a liquid discharge tube connected to the lower portion of eachpocket for the purpose of delivering absorbing liquid into the upperportion of the pipe, each tube being provided with a plurality ofdischarge openings in its lower surface for distributing the absorbingli pud as the same is discharged into the lower pipe, andthere being agas passage in each head connecting the lower portion of the lower pipewith the upper portion of the upper pipe.

4. As a new article of manufacture a head if of the class describedprovided with upper and lower openings for connection to absorptionpipes, there being a vertical pocket within the head extending from thelower portion of the upper opening to the upper portion of the. loweropening, a discharge tube connected into the lower portion of saidpocket, and a gas passage within the head connecting the lower portionof the lower opening with the upper portion of the upper opening.

As a new article of manufacture a head of the class described having theupper and lower openings adapted for registration with absorption pipes, there being a pocket for absorbing liquid in the head extendingfrom the lower portion of the upper opening to the .upper portion of thelower opening, a weir interposed between the upper portion of saidpocket and the lower portion of the Y 4 upper opening for the purpose ofcontrolling the depth of absorbing liquid in the upper pipe, a passagetubeconnected to the lower portion of the pocket and adapted to deliverabsorbing liquid into'the upper portion of the lower pipe, and a gaspassage eonnectingthe lowerportion of the lower opening with the upperportion of the upper opening,

UQW. VOGT.

Witnesses DAN XEWELYL, it, Honors.

